Clean Water Fishing? (Kingsport, Watauga: camping, living, statistics)

[4onmybench]

We are hoping to move up to the Tri-Cities this summer and for now we are just doing as much research as we can and getting to know the area via the internet!

My husband grew up near Lake Tahoe so he is used to clean water! Here in Texas, it's all muddy and not so great!

Up in the JC area, is there clean water (from the mountains?) where he can fish? I read in the other thread about fish from the Holsten not being edible! So, I'm hoping there are other options for him to fish in good clean waters!

TIA!

[Capt. Dan]

Theres always Virginia!

[rccrain]

I wouldn't eat fish from Boone lake. It's probably OK, I just wouldn't. Watauga and the Northern part of South Holston are what I would consider very clean. They are basically collections of mountain rain water.

Just below South Holston Dam is a nationally renown fly fishing spot (Oceola Island - sp?).

[kamoshika]

FISH TISSUE ADVISORIES FOR EAST TENNESSEE (April 2007)

Boone Reservoir: Sullivan, Washington counties
PCBs, Chlordane
Precautionary advisory for carp and catfish.*

Holston River: Sullivan, Hawkins counties - From the mouth of Poor Valley Creek embayment (Mile 89.0) upstream to confluence of the North and South Forks of the Holston near Kingsport (Mile 142.3)
Mercury
Precautionary advisory for all fish.*

North Fork Holston River: Sullivan, Hawkins counties to VA stateline (Mile 0.0 – 6.2)
Mercury
Do not eat the fish. Advisory goes to TN/VA line.

South Holston Reservoir Sullivan Co. portion within Tennessee
Mercury
Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass.*

Watauga Reservoir: Carter, Johnson counties
Mercury
Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass and channel catfish.*

* Precautionary Advisory: Children, women who might become pregnant, pregnant women, and nursing mothers should not consume the fish species named. All other persons should limit consumption of the named species to one meal per month.
http://www.state.tn.us/twra/pdfs/fishguide.pdf (broken link)

TVA: Sport Fishing Index Ratings

TVA: Reservoir Ratings

Living Here > Rivers, lakes, public lands surround area (http://www.gotricities.com/content/lharticle.dna?idNumber=030603144500 - broken link)

[rccrain]

Ouch. Didn't realize the problem was that bad.

[SarahSal]

Thanks, Kam for those revealing numbers. Those statistics are really depressing, especially for Watauga Lake, which has always been touted as one of the more pristine lakes in the country. I wonder what factors have contributed to the decline. (There is not much industry left in Johnson County to have much of an effect).

[donsabi]

The one piece of consistent advice I get from the locals here in NETN is, "don't eat the fish." If the local folks won't eat you better believe there is a problem. I catch and release anyway and found the waters from South Holston Dam to be very productive. While fishing the shoreline at a boat ramp at Boone lake a fisherman in a boat came in and loaded his boat. I asked him out he did and he opened the livewell and pulled out the biggest trout, (eight pounds on his scale), I had ever seen in person. He pointed to a camera in the boat and asked me to take a picture which I did. He then put the fish back in the lake. I commented on his sportsman like action and he said it had nothing to do with it. He said he wouldn't eat the fish in that lake if someone paid him to do it.

[4onmybench]

Thank you all for the info! We're so sad though! We had visions of clean mountain water!

[kamoshika]

Originally Posted by 4onmybench

Thank you all for the info! We're so sad though! We had visions of clean mountain water!

Please keep in mind that the advisories are very specific; most don't apply to everyone and they involve only a small number of the fish species found in the area's rivers and lakes. Mercury is the only worrisome contaminant in most places and because it's so heavy, it settles in sediment and has little or no effect on actual water quality.

As long as you avoid eating bottom-feeders like catfish & carp and their predators (like big smallmouth & largemouth bass), feel free to eat species like trout, walleye, crappie, and panfish from most of our lakes and rivers. Note that several rivers such as the Elk, Doe & Watauga are not on the advisory list at all.

Boone Lake is the only one from which I wouldn't recommend eating anything.

Also, there are hundreds of miles of clean trout streams in the NE Tenn. mountains (e.g., Laurel Fork, Rocky Fork, Left Prong Hampton & Beaverdam creeks), mostly in the Cherokee National Forest. While I wouldn't drink the water in any of 'em due to giardia, the fish are perfectly safe to eat.

[jabogitlu]

Like kam said, lots of the streams, creeks and rivers in the region are very safe and clean. I remember as a child camping on Horse Creek and drinking the water and eating the fish from it.